


Gensokyo Park

by hidekins



Category: Touhou Project
Genre: Eventual YukaRei, F/F, Modern AU, will add more character tags as they appear
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-07-13
Updated: 2015-07-18
Packaged: 2018-04-09 05:47:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,153
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4336217
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hidekins/pseuds/hidekins
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Reimu is forced to get a job and finds one at the Gensokyo Theme Park, and as an actor for a shrine maiden character no less! But soon she'll find out that playing her character will involve more than just getting pictures taken and handing out signatures...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Welcome to the family

"Being a shrine maiden doesn't pay the bills she says..." Reimu groaned as she turned the keys of her car and pulled them out. Grabbing her purse and opening she double checked that she had everything on her: phone, wallet, house keys and now her car keys too. Nodding once in satisfaction, Reimu got out of her car and decided to let the automatic alarm and lock secure her vehicle as she walked through the parking lot "Yet she gets to stay at home and be just that" she groaned again. If her mom hadn't given her an ultimatum of getting a job or starting college, Reimu wouldn't need to be here, going to her first day at this new job that she wasn't even sure what was it going to be doing. She couldn't complain much though; she had hit the job jackpot with this. The pay was really good, she actually knew the place from having visited it one time and having friends already working here made it even easier to get the job. 

"What is Gensokyo even supposed to mean?" Reimu thought out loud as she looked up at the somewhat rusted sign of the theme park. One had to wonder just how old this place is, Reimu never really had bothered to look it up, but she knew it was older than her. Her mom had said that she even had gone her herself, so that was even more years to add up to this place. Well, whatever, while she would be starting to work at this place such information doesn't really seem handy, Reimu thought to herself as she made her way to the gates of the park. She had seen these only once before full of people, now that all the gates but one were open and empty of people it made for a bizarre image. Looking down at herself, Reimu frowned. The badge on the chest of her shirt saying "Hi, my name is Reimu" made her feel like she was going to work at a fast food joint or something of that sort. What if she was put to work on one of the many food joints of the park? A shiver made ran through Reimu's spine at the thought. Shaking her head and deciding to put those thoughts to rest, Reimu walked through the gates and was hit with a nostalgic sight: whoever walked through the park gats was met with a wide, green garden with colorful flowerbeds and flowers that were grown in such way to spell out the kanji of "Gensokyo". Or at least that was Reimu had always assumed they were. Those symbols were all over the park anyways. 

Despite the unexpectedly warm welcome, Reimu remembered something that made her frown return: she didn't even know where she was supposed to go. Sighing, she pulled her phone out of her purse and unlocked it, quickly dialing one of friends and now co-workers. 

"Yo Reimu! So you finally got kicked out huh?" Reimu rolled her eyes and silently groaned "Anyways, you here yet? I can show you around if you want" 

"Actually Marisa, I'm not even sure where I'm supposed to go, so if you could help me out here..."

"Gotcha. Where are you right now? I'll swing by and show you around" 

"I'm right in front of the garden that's in front of the park entrance" 

"Cool, I'll be there in a few!" 

And with that, Reimu's ear was greeted by the series of beeps. Marisa was always one to quickly hang up. Thankfully Reimu had said everything that needed to be said. Well, now she just had to wait. Sitting down on one of the many benches, Reimu started to kick her feet in the air out of boredom. Taking a look around, she noticed how the park started to become less empty as more employees arrived and started their work and prepare the park for opening: people sweeping the ground, opening up booths and stores, speakers being tested and those who were rushing to their posts. It made Reimu feel out of place, just sitting in a bench while she waited for Marisa. 

It had been a few minutes, ten give or take, before Reimu saw her blonde friend running towards her and then hearing her shout her name. Standing up when Marisa joined her, instead of a greeting she was met by panting of her friend. Marisa stopped right next to Reimu only to lean forward and rest her hands on her shoulders as she tried to recover her breath. 

"Hey... Rei..." Marisa panted "Reimu" 

"Hey, are you okay?" Reimu felt her lips frowning in concern as she placed a hand on Marisa's back and patted it 

"Yeah... I just..." The blonde took a deep breath and slowly let it out "Just need a sec here... I came running as soon I hang up" 

"I can see that. You didn't need to come running here just for me you know?" 

"Yeah, yeah, I know" Marisa stood up, looking now like she had recovered "But I wanted to have my friend start with the right foot on her first day, y'know?" 

"Well... Thanks" The brunette's lips curved to the opposite side now, giving Marisa a smile. "So, I'm supposed to check in or report to somewhere, right?" 

"Oh yeah" Marisa nodded "You're gonna have to check in to Keine Kamishirasawa at human resources. C'mon, I'll walk you there and then I'll show you around" 

Keine... Kama... Kama-shirt-a-washy? Reimu just hoped she wouldn't need to learn the name of that person. Just what kind of last name was that anyways? She had never heard such a long and complicated name before. Not even the ones of foreigners that she had met like Alice's were so weird, and Alice's last name is pretty high up there in the weirdness levels- 

"Heey, Earth to Reimu!" Reimu's train of thought abruptly stopped by Marisa snapping her fingers in front of her face 

"W-what?!" 

"... We're here. Human Resources. Where you need to report for your first day? Hellooo, is Reimu Hakurei heeeere-" 

"Okay okay I get it, you can stop now. I was just lost in thought" Reimu shoved her hand on top of Marisa's mouth, which promptly shut her up. Marisa pushed open the double glass doors with 'human' and 'resources' printed on them. The room looked like a small waiting room to Reimu: a few rows of chairs were neatly arranged in front of a desk, and behind that desk was a small cubicle-offices area and several hallways leading to who knows where. 

Behind the desk in front of the chairs was a woman, around her thirties if Reimu had to guess, with long silver hair dyed blue on the tips. Her brown eyes were focused on Marisa while her hands idly tapped a pen on some papers. 

"Yo Keine! Good to see you" Marisa raised her hand and smiled at the lady. Keine frowned in response 

"Isn't that Miss Kamishirasawa for you?" She asked with a hint of authority in her voice. 

"Nah, that's only when I'm on my shifts. And that's waaay too long" Marisa joked in response, earning her a roll of eyes and smile from Keine. 

"So I take it that this is..." Keine looked down at her papers for a moment before glancing to the brunette "Miss Reimu Hakurei?" 

"Yup! Brought you a new shipment of fresh meat" The blonde laughed despite Reimu's disapproval of her nickname. At least she hoped it wouldn't last too long. 

"Hello Miss Hakurei, I'm Keine Kamishirasawa, a pleasure to meet you" Keine gave her a warm and welcoming smile which Reimu couldn't help but to return. 

"Pleasure's all mine. And just Reimu's okay" Maybe the sentiment would be equal and Reimu wouldn't have to try to learn and actually say Keine's last name. 

"You have a really good attitude. That's great. That's necessary if you want to work here. Well Reimu, welcome to the family" 

"Yeah, a family of over 1000 people!" Marisa chuckled at her own little joke "Well, if you count the visitors. If you don't we're maybe like... 100?" 

"Actually, Reimu'd be the 107th" Keine quickly responded "Oh! And here's your schedule" she said as she grabbed a sheet and reached it out to the brunette who promptly took it in her hands "I know the job opening seemed really vague but you'll be-" 

"Oh sweet, we share our break time!" Marisa, who had been looking at Reimu's schedule over her shoulder, cut in. 

"Right, that would've been me" Keine added. Reimu was a bit surprised by this and gave the human resources manager a nod to thank her "You'll be my assistant, Miss Reimu." 

"Assistant? But right here it says that I need to go to the Youkai Mountain and be in charge of the Kappa's village souvenir shop" Reimu pointed out, still going through her schedule. "Yes, I was getting there. Even though your job title says "Human Resources Manager's Assistant", I'll basically be sending you wherever they need more people. You're basically backup." 

That sounds great, Reimu's inner sarcastic voice automatically activated, but she did her best to not show her displeasure. "So I won't be sitting here in one of those offices and basically be your sidekick?" Well, at least she wouldn't be stuck in a claustrophobic office if that was the case 

"You won't have to worry about office work" Keine nodded "Your job's out there in the park, wherever they need more hands." Well, they weren't kidding when the title said "human resources": they were managing resources. Which were human. Which was Reimu. 

"Sounds to me like Reimu isn’t your only assistant" Marisa commented 

"Well, that would be true, but I only have a couple of assistants and there are one too many places that could use extra help, especially when the park gets over 1000 visitors per day on the busy periods" 

"Um... Is there anything else I should know or..." Reimu finished going through her schedule and now looked at her manager 

"Yes, well, no. Not right now. You'll be told more about what you need to do and how you can help at Youkai Mountain once you get there. Report to Mister Tenma there and he'll tell you what to do" 

"Alright, thanks Miss Kami-" Reimu stopped herself before she stepped her foot on a landmine "Miss Keine.“ 

"Have a good first day at work. And remember to smile!" Keine winked at her new assistant and gave her a smile. That advice would've been weird if Reimu wasn't going to be working at a theme park that most of their demographic were children and teens. Nodding to Keine, she was quickly pulled out by Marisa. Reimu almost lost her footing on her way out, but managed to quickly recover when the blonde had to stop for a brief moment to open the doors 

"C'mon, I'll show you around! I'll show you where the employee lockers are, and the employee restrooms, and the shortcu-" 

"Wait, employee restrooms?" Reimu interrupted with a confused look 

"Well, yeah. You don't usually see theme park workers using public bathrooms, right?" Now that she mentioned, Marisa was right. She had never seen one using a public restroom before (not like she had visited Gensokyo more than once before). "Hey, did I mention that I play a witch at the Forest of Magic?" 

"Yes, countless times. Kinda hard to forget when you mention it at least once per week" Reimu rolled her eyes, not this story again. 

"Yeah! I play a witch! I'm basically an actor, a superstar even! Y'know, because I even have to write down my signature to everyone who wants one. It gets tiring after a while though; you wouldn't believe how tiring it is to write down a name so many times in a row! And mind you that it isn't even your own name; you gotta give the signature of your character! I mean, I guess it makes sense, since you're in character and all and kids think you are the real deal, but wouldn't it be great if one person suddenly came up to you and asked you for your signature? Like your real name! I've been practicing that one just in case it happens..." 

Reimu just hoped that this tour of Marisa's would be over quickly. Or that she'd shut her trap. Either worked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Due to a misfortunate series of events, I am without Internet. But that also means that I can't procastinate as much, so Ive spent some time writing more. This work will be updated at a slow rate as I have to rely on others to get it posted. As always, feedback ia appreciated.


	2. Incentives

Well, somehow Reimu had gone through a month smoothly at her new job. The amount of effort she had to give on a day to day basis seemed almost random, it all depended on where Keine would be sending her that day: holding a line left Reimu feeling like she had done absolutely nothing but to stand in place for a whole day and other times she was the errand girl for all the souvenir shops of the whole park and made her entire body feel sore the next morning. It was frustrating to have these two kinds of days and whatever that was between them back to back, not knowing what the next day would ask out of her.

But she had never been called on her break to Human Resources. It was even weirder when she saw Marisa, in costume, waiting for her in one of the many seats of the waiting room and idly chit-chatting with Keine. The two of them didn't notice Reimu outside watching them. Once she opened the door however the two dropped their small talk and turned to Reimu, both of them waving their hand in an almost perfect synchronization. It looked weird. It felt weird. Like those animatronics from the Glowing Mushrooms ride at the Forest of Magic. Those thoughts were quickly forgotten once Reimu took a closer look at Marisa's costume; she really hadn't seen her in costume and so close before. For starters, she didn't even look like a magician: her blonde hair sported a red headband with white frills, around her neck was a white capelet held together by a red frilly tie that was in the same fashion as her headwear. Under the capelet was a blue dress that went all the way down to Marisa's knees and was held neatly around the curves of her waist by a red sash that might've just been an extra tie for her capelet. And under that dress was a white buttoned shirt with poofy short sleeves. It didn't look like a magician at all; it looked like a stereotypical foreigner from a cartoon.

"Yo Reimu! We've been waiting for you" Marisa waved her hand to signal her friend to get closer, which she did by sitting down two seats next to her.

"Keine called for me but I didn't know you were going to be here. Are you even on your break?"

"Nope!" Marisa quickly answered with a grin "But who cares, Keine gave me the green light to come over here." Reimu looked at her manager and raised an eyebrow in question which was answered by a smiling and nodding Keine

"That's right. She's the reason you're here, actually." The silver haired woman brought up something that Reimu would've never seen coming.

"Wait what? I'm missing my break because of you-?!"

"Hold on Reimu. She's got her reasons. Do you want a raise?" Keine quickly interjected before Reimu would raise her voice.

"A... raise?" Well, now Reimu was all ears as she shifted her attention from her blonde friend to her manager.

"Yes, you'd also be changing jobs. To a better paying one" Keine explained as she looked for something in her stack of papers

"What kind of job?" Reimu asked cautiously. She was curious about this, but all of this smelled kind of fishy.

"As you've probably known, there's a part of the park that's been in remodeling for quite a while-"

"Yeah, it's been closed for like 20 years!" Marisa interrupted to add her two cents to the matter

"Yes, thanks Marisa. It's been closed for 23 years now" Keine resumed her explanation "It had had a lot of problems and setbacks, but now management says that it's ready to open..." Keine trailed off as she pulled out binder and opened it and began to flip through its contents

"They just need more hands and you want me to work there?" Reimu asked once her manager grew silent.

"Yes and no. Not exactly" Keine shook her head and looked up from her papers to Reimu, which made the brunette pout in confusion

"Actually, we need people to play out the characters" Keine continued "You're our first option for one of the characters"

"Wait, why me? I've never tried acting" Reimu started to dislike the idea. Sure, the idea of having a set work station instead of being made run around the park was compelling, but trying her hand at playing a character that she probably didn't even know about seemed like a hassle.

"Because Reimu, the character you'll be playing is a-"

"A shrine maiden!!" Marisa interrupted again as she raised both her arms and her voice "What better candidate to play a shrine maiden than an actual shrine maiden!"

"... Yes, a shrine maiden." Keine sighed and fixed her glasses, a tic of frustration that Reimu quickly had picked up upon of her manager "Marisa told me about your previous... occupation when I brought up the fact that we'd need more actors"

"Yup! When she told me about it, I was like "Yo. You're not gonna believe this, I've got the perfect person to be your shrine maiden" And that's you!" The blonde pointed her finger at Reimu, who simply grabbed it and put it down

"Okay, but what exactly..." Reimu put a hand over Marisa's mouth before she'd start to ramble on about her job. Again. "Would I have to do if I take the job?"

"Well, I'm sure Marisa has told you plenty about what she does, but I'll give you a brief overview about it" Marisa self consciously chuckled and scratched the back of her head "Obviously, you'd have to dress up as your character. Costumes are custom made and tailored here at the park..."

"That'd be Alice! She's in charge of costume design and tailoring. She made this outfit for me too, pretty cool huh? Kinda too frilly if you ask me though" Marisa pointed out as she grabbed her sash by its frill.

"Right." Keine poked the side of her glasses and continued "You'd have to be at a set location for a few hours, taking pictures with our visitors and handing out signatures when they ask for them. When you're not on those shifts you'd have to simply wander around the shrine and the surrounding areas, obviously all of this while being in-character, and from time to time look like you're doing actual shrine maiden duties, such as sweeping the shrine grounds"  
Well, it certainly didn't seem that bad, especially the last part, because Reimu actually enjoyed performing most of her duties as a shrine maiden. Only one question remained...

"So what's the pay?"

Both Marisa and Keine smiled at the same time. Even though such synchronized movements slightly creep out Reimu, this time it seemed like another incentive to take the job. Her manager then handed a sheet of paper. Looking at it, the first part held her current salary, how much she made per hour, per day, and how much it net throughout a week and then a month. And right below it was another chart of the potential salary as an actor. Reimu's eyes froze at the first number and then quickly jumped to the weekly and monthly amounts of money. There was no way she'd be making...

"This is over double of my salary!" The brunette jumped from her seat and immediately looked at Keine to see if there were any hints of a potential prank. Fortunately her smile was only of agreement

"No way-"

"Yes way" Marisa now had stood up as well and thrown her arm around Reimu's shoulder.

"With this kind of money I could..." Reimu could give her part of the rent of the house and taxes of the shrine maiden and still have plenty to spare for her own savings.

"Yup, you could probably do that" Marisa nodded with a smug smile.

Reimu stared back at the numbers on the sheet of paper with so much fiery passion that it might have just burned the paper and the whole Human Resources department with it.

"So, are you interested in this new job Reimu?" Keine looked up at her assistant with a very big smile.

Reimu was silent for a good minute or two. Although she looked like she was deep in thought, her manager and her friend probably already knew her answer.

"So, when can I start?"


	3. New Uniform

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also I forgot to mention that I don't even know what sort of A/U this is supposed to be: they have Japanese names and know some basic Japanese folklore but are not fluent in Japanese?? I don't know man  
> EDIT: Also oops?? Don't immediately post any work of fiction you make! Read it and check out if it's not horribly written out as I did. Grammar has been corrected.

What the sheet of paper with her new salary and other paper that Keine had Reimu sign had not said at all was that Marisa was going to act all high mighty and calling herself a "professional", "Reimu's inspiration" and "Reimu's senpai" over and over and over again. Although mildly amusing the first few days of training it quickly got out of hand and became nerve-wracking annoying when Marisa boasted for the 25th time on the same day. Even when Reimu had burst and yelled at her friend it had done nothing to stop her.

"So, ready for your big day?" Marisa had fist bumped on a Reimu on her arm and successfully making her turn her attention to the blonde.

"What? The Gensokyo shrine will still be closed for like a month" The brunette found it surprising that Marisa had already forgotten about the opening date of the new area of the park when she had been the one who dragged into this new job.

"I know that! I didn't mean that silly head" Marisa shook her head with a smug 'all-knowing' smile which made Reimu frown in annoyance "Today you gotta go with Alice to get your measurements and you'll get your outfit!"

"Oh" Right. She had forgotten about that. Now Reimu was annoyed about the fact that she forgot something crucial of her new occupation and that Marisa of all people had to remind her about it "Wait, measurements and outfit on the same day? That sounds impossible"

"Alice's probably the person with the most dexterous hands I've ever seen. She's fixed my dress countless times in minutes" Marisa recalled and quickly noticed the expression of disbelief on Reimu's face "Gotta see to believe. Yeah, understandable" Still, Reimu wasn't entirely convinced. It just didn't seem possible to work that quickly unless Alice had entire workshop and several assistants who'd work on a different part of her outfit, assistants who'd do nothing but work for Alice. Like robots, or dolls. She chuckled, that was an amusing thought.

Once Reimu had stored all of her things on her locker the two walked to Alice's workshop, which was located... right where Marisa was stationed: at the Witch's House in the Forest of Magic. As they entered the area, which by the amount of trees actually looked like a forest, Reimu took notice of all the small details of the place: there were cartoon-y painted mushrooms scattered all over the shadowed spots, such under the benches and under the trees' shades; all the benches were painted to look old, or at least they looked like that. The trash cans looked like a witch's cauldron and the recycling bins were shaped as bottles for potions and all the street lamps were decorated with wires that were bent to look like silhouettes of different things such as cats, stars and magic circles. Reimu had never had a chance to take her time and enjoy any parts of the park, and this one certainly had a lot of charm. It'd make a great walking path if it didn't get so crowded once the park opened. The air was so fresh with the smell of a forest too, it was such a shame.

The Witch's House was one of the few attractions of the Forest of Magic, most of the area was actually lacking of rides or shops when compared to the rest of the park, but too many buildings would probably defeat the whole atmosphere of a forest of magic, Reimu mused as she calmly walked alongside Marisa. There was a single ride, a couple of shops, some restrooms and the Witch's House as far as she knew. The brunette was thankful to that they’d have to walk to the deeper parts of the forest to meet up with Alice. As they walked, the trees got denser and less sunlight could brighten the road making it much more atmospheric, a little detail that Reimu noticed and appreciated. When they reached the Witch's House, Reimu took a good look at it. It was most definitely a house, a bit on the large side but she had to remind herself that this was an attraction, not an actual house; it was two stories high, with a tower on the side of the house that was a floor taller. The trees were much scarce around the house, letting the sunlight illuminate it well and make it stand out to the rest of the forest. Marisa passed her friend who had been looking at the house to open up a small side road that was closed by a small chain with an "Authorized Personnel only" sign. The small path led to the tower to the side of the house. On the backside of the tower was a door with another "Authorized Personnel only" sign hanging on it. Marisa turned the ornate golden-brown knob and opened the door, pulling Reimu inside as she walked in.

The first thing that Reimu first noticed was how well illuminated the room was without the need of any lights: the windows were on two opposite walls and were large enough to let a generous amount of sunlight in. That however made Reimu quickly notices something unnerving. There were a lot of dolls and some exoskeletons sitting just about everywhere in the room: on the tables, the shelves, the bookcases, the sides of the room, on the perch of the windows. Despite how bright the room was it all was too creepy. Reimu didn't actually think there would be dolls AND robots in this place. The brunette gulped down her nervousness and tried to not look at any of them, a task that was proving to be difficult with all dolls and metallic skeletons scattered in the room.

"Boo!" Suddenly, a "face" with a round metallic head, small metal chompers for a jaw and uncanny blue human eyes appeared in Reimu's face, which prompted the brunette to scream and jump in sheer terror of the exoskeleton that Marisa had suddenly shoved to her face. As if right on cue, Marisa started to laugh loudly as she fell back in a chair behind her.

"M-marisa!" Reimu wasn't able to build an entire sentence in her head as it was still scrambled by the sudden jump scare she had suffered. Her stuttering only added fuel to the blonde's laughter, which further infuriated the brunette.

"Marisa?" A voice from upstairs echoed Reimu's words in a much different tone. The sound of footsteps creeping through the ceiling made their way to the stairs on one of the sides of the tower to finally reveal a blue-eyed blonde, a couple of inches taller than Reimu and sporting a blue polo shirt and a pair of jeans.

"Alice!" Marisa jumped up from her seat and ran to her side, waving the small exoskeleton to Alice's face "I just scared Reimu with this! Thing's so creepy that I probably made her heart stop too. You should've seen it, her face was priceless!"

Opposite to Marisa's grin, all of this made Alice frown. She took away the metallic humanoid from her and quickly inspected it "Marisa, how many times have I told you not to touch these? They're very delicate and fragile. Half of the time we can't get them fixed is because you play and swing with them too much" The blue-eyed blonde nagged in vain as Marisa's grin hadn't faded away one bit.

"Aw come on, you have a ton of 'em working already and you always end up fixing them right up anyways, so no harm done in the end, right?" The careless tone and attitude only made Alice roll her eyes "Oh yeah, talking about Reimu, I brought her like you asked"

"Oh! Reimu!" Alice's tone of voice immediately changed to a happy and welcoming one. The taller girl of the bunch walked towards Reimu and hugged her quickly which made Reimu snap out from tiny heart attack she had suffered earlier "I haven't seen you for so long, since high school! How have you been?"

"Oh, I've been fine, at the shrine all this time before I started coming here" Reimu smiled, happy to see another familiar old face around these parts. Her shrine duties had often kept her so busy that her days off she always spent them resting "You know my mom, she was always-"

"Well, I'm sure you two have a lot to catch up!" Marisa interrupted as she walked to the stairs "So I'll leave you two alone and have a drink. Tea's at the usual place?"

"Yes Marisa" Alice turned to the other blonde and nodded "At my desk. Just don't spill any-"

"Yeah yeah, I'm not 10!" Marisa groaned as she ran upstairs.

"Sometimes she acts like she's 7 years old" Alice added and rolled her eyes, causing Reimu to chuckle.

"Too true. Where was I? Oh yeah, moms, am I right?"

"You should've seen Mother when I started to move out. She was almost crying, she didn't want me to go"

"Shinki's too sweet. Wish she could pass some of that to mine"

Both girls laughed and continued to chat with each other, sharing and exchanging stories of what had happened ever since they split off after high school, of how Reimu had the eccentric tourist show up and end up donating foreign money that she wasn't sure what to do with and of how Alice had opened up a custom clothing shop and eventually had been offered a job here at the park and many more things. Neither of the two was sure of how much time had passed by when they decided to join Marisa upstairs in the second floor of the tower. The second room was full of racks of clothes of a huge variety of color, several cardboard wheels with lines of frills, spare costumes and a separate shack on the corner of the room with several replacements of Marisa's outfit. One a side of the room was a large table with a sewing machine installed on it and several other custom made furniture for the facilitation of Alice's work, such as bendable tables, one too many drawers Reimu could count, a really comfortable looking chair and a large cushion with countless needles stabbed in it. Marisa was sitting on a chair with and empty teacup on a small table next to her. But what stood out the most in the room was a red outfit set up on a white female mannequin. The head was fashioned with a big red ribbon with frills on the ends and several white patters across it; the top of it looked like some sort of red sailor uniform with a large white collar and an ornate blue ribbon tied under it. It had no sleeves, but the sides where the arms would go through had a very small line of frills. The bottom part of the outfit was a simple red skirt that reached about knee-level and had frills on the end of it. Simple white socks and a pair of black mary-jane shoes were on the feet of the mannequin. What intrigued Reimu the most were the detached sleeves of the outfit: they were really... poofy. The ends of it were decorated with several small horizontal red lines, it started out somewhat wide, closed a bit just above the elbow and then widened again. There probably was elastic on the least wide part of the sleeve to keep them from falling.

"This is..." Reimu pointed at the outfit.

"Your shrine maiden costume" Alice proudly smiled at her creation.

"My shrine maiden costume" The brunette repeated.

"Yes, your shrine maiden costume" The taller blonde nodded "Do you... not like it?" her proud voice quickly turned into a worried one.

"No, no! It's... unique, I guess" Reimu quickly realized that she had made a poor choice of words and decided to clarify "It's just that... Well, I'm a shrine maiden. And this doesn't look like a shrine maiden uniform at all"

"Well, obviously. I know that Reimu" Alice walked towards the mannequin and began to fix a few wrinkles on it "But I couldn't have made it like one. Needed to make a lot of changes, one that looked too real would defeat the purpose of someone being a fantasy shrine maiden in a fantasy world, right?" Well, Reimu supposed she had a very good point.

"True, I guess. I suppose I just pictured the job like being an actual shrine maiden you know?" Reimu looked at the costume from head to toes and walked around it to see the back of it, inspecting every inch of it "Are you sure it'll fit?"

"Like a glove. I have your measurements after all" Alice smugly smiled and nodded.

"Well, I guess I'll try it-" Something just clicked on Reimu's brain "Wait, why do you have MY measurements?! You never took them yours-!"

"I called your mom" Alice began explaining before Reimu could even finish "Told her about my situation and she happily gave them to me. Turns out that this isn't the only shrine maiden outfit that has been custom made for you" she half joked and giggled.

Darn her mom. Well, what's been done has been done Reimu told to herself and began to undress the mannequin "Where can I change?" the brunette asked as she slid the sleeves off of the plastic arms.

"Just behind those curtains on that corner over there" Marisa pointed at the white curved curtains that hid a corner of the room. Reimu nodded and continued to gather her new uniform until she remembered something.

"What's with all the dolls and robo-skeletons downstairs? They're all kinda creepy" Reimu asked to no one in specific, just hoping to get an answer.

"Oh, those" Marisa chuckled, remembering how she scared her friend "The Witch's House has a lotta of animatronics in it. You know robots of things which only do a certain set of movements. Some of them turn their heads and eyes to the people walking around them, others greet you, some others fly with strings, they do all kinds of stuff."

"Downstairs is where I fix the ones that are malfunctioning" Alice continued Marisa's explanation as she sat down on her workshop and grabbed her current work, a mob cap with a red string on the front of it tied in a ribbon "Some I need to fix their clothes, others their skin, and a few are just broken so I need to salvage them"

"They're all creepy. Uncanny feeling to them" Reimu commented as she removed the last piece of her outfit off of the mannequin and made her way to the curtains.

"I know. I made them like that. To give the Witch's House a creepy feeling to it. Still, they're dolls so kids can brave through it. Some adults of more scared of the place than their kids" Alice finished as she took a line of frills and began to sew it to the cap.

"What? Another mob cap? Man, this is ridiculous" Marisa slumped on her chair when she noticed what Alice was working on "Doesn't the director realize those look silly as heck?"

"I know, but he was the one who chose and approved the new outfits. He seems like them for some reason" Alice shrugged, not questioning what she was asked to do. She did design it after all.

"Wait, mob cap? I'm not wearing one, right?" Reimu asked curiously, not being able to see the hat through the curtain.

"No no, it's not for you Reimu. It's for another employee who's going to work in the new area as well" Alice explained, making sure her voice was loud enough for her friend to hear.

"I never really heard about any co-workers from Keine. What's her name?" Reimu asked with interest, only assuming it was a her as most of the characters in the park were female.

"Yukari Yakumo"


End file.
